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Detroit native Ife Sanchez Mora just might have one of the most interesting backgrounds we’ve come across in our “New & Next” column. The daughter of an African-American mother and Mexican father who are both jazz musicians, Ife’s youth was spent meeting and jamming with some beloved jazz figures like Sun Ra and Miles Davis. Read More

Many are ashamed of the authentic person inside of them. They are disconnected with this person and resort to addiction to help fill an emptiness of not knowing how to connect with their authentic selves. Read More

Some people call it presence, others refer to it as an aura, or poise. Whatever you call it, IFÉ has it – and her ability to command a room is immediately apparent. The singer, musician, wonderwoman, and mother of two is beautiful and talented as well as generous and compassionate. Read More

Ifé Sanchez Mora will hit you where it hurts. Her soulful vocals and hard-hitting lyrics in her new album, Fire Inside of Me, will leave a lasting impression thanks to her blending of Mexican and African musical influences. Read More

Erin McKeown’s spare but potent songs, Ife’s sensual rock, a soundtrack for freedom, and live appearances by Garland Jeffreys, David Johansen and more. “Fire Inside of Me” Ife Sanchez Mora sings her swaggering rock songs in a womanly voice, full of curves and sustenance. Read More

Ifé is an interesting gal. The Detroit native (now living in NYC) grew up in a musical family surrounded by cats like Sun Ra. She made waves in the Detroit techno scene and, later, in trip-hop, making friends like Tricky.But that’s enough name-dropping, because her own solo album, Fire Inside of Me, is impressive enough by itself. Read More

Ifé Sanchez Mora, known onstage as just Ifé, is a NY-based singer, songwriter, and Nichiren Daishonin practitioner. A Detroit native, Ifé pulls from a wide variety of musical influences, including those from her Mexican and African heritage as well as American blues, rock, and soul music, seamlessly melding them into her own distinctive sound.Read More

Considering that Ife Sanchez Mora comes from a famous family of legendary Latin artists – her parents are renowned jazz musicians Teresa and Francisco Mora and her grandparents were famous painters Francisco Mora and Elizabeth Catlett — you‘d assume Ife could rock a canvas or jazz ensemble like nobody’s business. Well, you’d be half-right.Read More

Ife Sanchez Mora keeps good company. As a kid growing up in Detroit, she received an early piano lesson from Sun Ra, who’d been booked to play a local concert with her dad. As a teen, she found herself singing with some of her hometown’s best producers, including techno pioneers Derrick May and Blake Baxter. As an adult, she moved to New York and palled with trip-hop artist Tricky, who signed her to his own label.Read More

The worlds of music and food collided on Tuesday night in TriBeCa.
The Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls, a New York-based nonprofit that teaches girls between 8 and 18 years old to play in rock bands, put on Rhythm & Soul. The event brought a rock ‘n’ roll vibe to the Tribeca Grill, while chefs Aaron Sanchez, Amanda Freitag, Chris Santos and Maneet Chauhan brought flavor to the party with their hors d’oeuvres.Read More

Ife’s music is so complex and moody and I love listening to her voice, which is soulful and operatic at the same time. Her music goes from rock to country to soul to folk, it’s really lovely. “Teach Me” is silky smooth and sexy, it’s all sorts of sexy, and full of yearning. Read Article

The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl, organized by the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, is the first museum exhibition to explore the culture of vinyl records within the history of contemporary art. Bringing together artists from around the world who have worked with records as their subject or medium, this groundbreaking exhibition examines the record’s transformative power from the 1960s to the present. Read Article

While I was strolling the internet for food network info I came across an interesting tidbit. My food network crush, Aaron Sanchez, is married to a singer in an Afro-punk band. Afro-punk band!? A few google clicks later and I learn he is married to the lovely Ife Mora of the Afro-punk band, SwEEtie. She is also the older sister of one of my favorite America’s Next Top Model winners, Naima. Watch Ife and Rebel Tec do their thing in 17. Read Article

Perhaps more than any other profession, artists are expected to evolve. Most fans want musicians to display just enough growth to demonstrate a sense of creative maturity without completely departing from their original sound. This can be difficult– how does an artist satisfy their urge for growth without alienating their audience? On her debut solo album, singer IFE, one-half of punk rock band Sweetie, seeks to answer the question with In Love Story, a beautiful ode to the complexities of love.
With Sweetie, IFE fulfilled her rock goddess aspirations, spewing intense, edgy lyrics and defying traditional expectations of the type of music women of color are supposed to perform. While it’s clear rock remains one of IFɒs loves, (the Lenny Kravitzesque opener “The Stone” gets things off to a triumphant start) the recent newlywed displays an unwillingness to play to a particular demographic, adopting various musical styles throughout In Love Story. Elevating the album into something beyond your typical lovelorn record, she and her band have a knack for blending each track to suit her eclectic vocal range, which alter impressively throughout. On “Whispers of a Siren” and “Blind”, IFE adopts an almost operatic tone, adding an epic and dramatic quality that complements her band’s virtuosity.
In recent interviews, IFE has admitted she is “[simultaneously] plagued”and also compelled by [the idea of] love. This tension is expressed throughout In Love Story with dramatic storytelling and passionate lyrics. The songwriter’s voice glides languidly over “Emptiness” as lyrics such as I settle to be a button on your sleeve/I love, I love, I love unconditionally/untraditionally/ I’m lost, I’m lost, I’m lost/ because I’m a little girl/ afraid to leave reflect IFɒs range of emotional vulnerability as well as her writing ability. “Teach Me”, a dreamy, sultry track where IFE half-sings, half-speaks her desire for her lover seems destined for the kind of nights meant to conceive offspring. In fact, most of In Love Story is graced with that same raw, sensual vibe, owing as much to its quality production as to IFɒs voice. On “A Woman Kills For,” an alluring, bluesy number dedicated to her husband, Aaron Sanchez, (of Food Network’s Chef vs. City fame) IFE employs a slight Southern twang when she sings, “he’s a man a woman lives for/he’s a man a woman kills for/he’s a man a woman learns from/he’s a man a woman yearns for.”
Later, on “Fantasma,” IFE sings almost entirely in Spanish, and her voice is so well-suited for the bi-lingual departure, one almost wishes there were more Spanish tracks on the album. If flirting with various styles on one album seems like vocal A.D.D, rest assured, despite the various approaches, In Love Story remains surprisingly consistent. A large part of this is due to the tight production and arrangement each track was produced by IFE and Ricc Sheridan (of the illustrious rock-n-roll band, Earl Greyhound) and seems like the perfect precursor to the following song.
Singing about love in all of its forms is not a novel concept, but experimenting the different ways in which it is expressed most certainly is. For IFE, a practicing Nichiren Daishonin Buddhist, it seems natural to compare In Love Story to the eminent Buddhist symbol of growth: the Lotus flower. Like the flower, which plants and blooms simultaneously, IFE has managed to produce an album that leans upon its roots but has the courage to flourish on its own.
- Jahan Mantin, freelance music journalist, BRM Magazine, VIBE Magazine